six degrees

(S01E03) I don't know that any of us can ever really understand the machinations that go into making the network schedule. After watching the first three episodes of Traveler though, I'm left scratching my head wondering just what it was that kept this one tucked away for so long. I'll give in where The Nine is concerned, because the pilot was very good. But how this one got passed over for Six Degrees, Men In Trees, and the collection of little sit-coms that couldn't is beyond me.

Six Degrees returned (briefly) this spring to unimpressive ratings, so ABC has yanked it off the scheduled and shut down production. The network will burn off the remaining five episodes on its website beginning Friday, April 27. It will release one episode each Friday for five weeks.

The show returned to Friday night airings, but nobody watched. I gave up on it after watching the pilot because-- as it turns out-- everything J.J. Abrams touches does not turn to gold.

Now, all we're waiting to hear about is Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It's only a matter of time.

Remember all that stuff about Six Degrees coming back? Never mind! ABC has pulled the show yet again. The show returned recently on Friday nights (which was a big surprise in itself), but almost no one watched. The show got terrible ratings. The move takes effect immediately. Something tells me this isn't a good sign for a second season.

So we have The Black Donnellysbeing pulled in favor of a reality show (The Real Wedding Crashers), and you're probably wondering what will replace Six Degrees in the time slot? That's right, a reality show! But this one is even more hard to take: they're replacing it with reruns of Wife Swap. Gah!

In other shows-going-on-hiatus news, David E. Kelley's The Wedding Bells has stopped production, though the remaining episodes will probably air. But don't hold your breath for a renewal.

The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman (Mon., 9:45PM ET, ABC) 10th season premiereIn nine seasons, no Bachelor has married the woman to whom he gave his final rose. None. Zip. Nada. Most of them aren't even still dating the women they chose. So, you gotta wonder how the show manages to go on. Why do women keep signing up for it? In the premiere, some of the bachelorettes care less about Navy doctor Andy Baldwin than sniping at each other. It's all about the chase, so why even bother with the guy? He's probably not going to marry any of 'em, anyway.

The Shield (Tue., 10PM ET, FX) 6th season premiereIn a television landscape littered with strong personalities (think House, Jack Bauer, Rosie), there's still nobody like Vic Mackey, with his shiny bald pate and murky methods. In the premiere, Vic wants vengeance for the murder of Lem -- not knowing the killer is another Strike Team member, Shane -- while rabid Internal Affairs officer Kavanaugh wants to pin it on Vic. Not only that, he finds out from Claudette that the brass wants him to retire.

A love triangle, a hidden pregnancy, Josh Charles, and a quickened plot is what awaits viewers who tune in to Six Degrees when it returns tonight on ABC at 9 pm. The series was pulled from the scheduled way back in November when it wasn't holding on to the Grey's Anatomy audience on Thursday nights. Created by J.J. Abrams, the drama is about six New Yorkers and how their lives intersect. The ensemble cast includes Bridget Moynahan, Campbell Scott, and Erika Christenson.

Only, in my opinion, it was slow. And boring. And apparently ABC thought so too, because it gave the executive producers a few mandates for the next seven episodes.

Hola, mi muchachos and muchachoettes! It is I, Schedule Boy, back from wherever the hell I was. I'm here this time to present a comprehensive list of upcoming season and series premieres and finales for you, my adoptive TV Squad family.

What a crazy season its been! Shows that had so much potential (The Nine, Studio 60) struggled to stay on the air, while others (Ugly Betty, Friday Night Lights, Jericho, 30 Rock) surprised us with their growing fan bases and popularity. Then there were shows like ER that made a sudden comeback and ones like Gilmore Girls and Scrubs that didn't seem to find their way for the first half of the season. Well, at least we could be confident that hits like Grey's Anatomy, American Idol, 24 and Lost would carry us through the season. Then again, maybe not. Like I said, crazy season.

So, sit back, relax, and enjoy this fine presentation, presented in color with limited commercial interruption. You can find the list of premieres and finales (as well shows returning from hiatus) after the jump. Remember, dates are subject to change, so we'll be updating as time moves forward.

To update Bob's strange news item from Thursday: Six Degrees is back on the schedule. Bob noticed a quick reference in an article that the J.J. Abrams drama is still filming, even though it's been off the schedule since early November. Now it's scheduled to return to a new timeslot on Fridays at 9 pm as of March 23rd.

It's a crappy time slot, no doubt. Especially compared to Six Degrees' original spot after Grey's Anatomy on Thursday nights. The show, about six people whose lives all intersect, struggled during its first few episodes, getting a maximum of 9.6 million viewers (less than half of the Grey's audience stuck around). Possibly because it was boring and pointless.

Whether or not Six Degrees has been retooled, we'll just have to wait and see. It looks as though the casting remains the same.

The first session of yesterday's ABC presentation started bright and early at 9 AM with a Q&A with network president Steve McPherson. He was cheekily introduced with a video showing the rehearsals of a "new cast member" of Dancing with the Stars. It turned out to be McPherson, at a scene that looked like it came from either a previous press tour or an upfront presentation. Everyone laughed but me, mainly because I wasn't grizzled enough of a TV veteran to get the inside joke.

In what looks to me to be a desperate attempt to gain viewers any way they can, What About Brianis adding Tiffani Thiessen (Saved By The Bell, 90210, Fastlane) to their cast. She will play Natasha Dylan, who is described as being sexy, manipulative, and a shrewd business woman. Natasha will join the show as Dave's new boss at KC Gaming.

I don't know if adding Thiessen is the best of decisions, but then, it really can't hurt. What About Brian is struggling to keep its head above water at this point. The last original episode finished last in the time slot with only 4.54 million viewers, and that was up against repeats of Studio 60 and CSI: Miami. To put that in perspective, the last episode of Six Degrees that aired before it was pulled had 7.59 million. And the last episode of Smith was good for 8.43 million. Total viewers isn't the be all end all of keeping a show on the air, but someone needs to ask, "What about those ratings, Brian?"

Sadly, that's the case over at ABC. Try as they might, and for reasons I don't quite get, people just don't want to watch this show. I've posted about the slide in the ratings before, and it continued this week. After garnering their lowest 18-49 numbers yet, ABC has pulled the show, with plans for the remaining episodes to be shown on ABC.com. Or, on DVD for those of you that are going to be screwed by that whole geography thing. To add insult to injury, the Wednesday schedule will be filled with repeats of George Lopez and According to Jim until the new schedule starts in January.

I think this has to signal a change at the networks. The big serial drama experiment is now officially a failure. With Surface and Invasion failing to get a second season, and now Smith, Kidnapped, The Nine, Six Degrees, and Day Break all failing to finish one, I think we can look for the networks to try something different next season. And hey, if Diggs really wants to be on a hit show, they're still casting for the next Dancing with the Stars, right?... Too soon?

1. The Nine (ABC): Yeah, the network can say it's "on hiatus" and that "the remaining episodes will be shown in 2007," but we all know what it means. And the reason I picked this as #1 is because this show had more buzz and positive reviews than any other show before the season started. I think more critics picked it as a the "best" than any other show. Then the show kept losing viewers, even though it was on after Lost, so ABC pulled it from the schedule. That's really unfortunate. It was a good show, though I think that after the pilot viewers were expecting a different type of show than the straight drama with a twist that we got. Hopefully Tim Daly will have better luck with his new show next year.

ABC unveiled their new Wednesday night schedule yesterday, as Anna reported here. The big news is, of course, Lost moving to 10PM to duck American Idol and Criminal Minds. Gideon wins the Wednesday night slugfest by forfeit, I think. Crazy island adventure aside, aren't you wondering where Day Break went?

When Knights of Prosperity and In Case Of Emergency kick off on January 3rd at 9PM there will still be five more episodes of Brett Hopper's bad day. Could it be that the terrible ratings have finally caught up with the show and ABC is going to quit while they're behind? The other option is moving the show, but at this point I'm not sure the numbers will even allow them to do that.

They could stick a repeat Grey's Anatomy in any of the slots and easily get twice the audience. Added to that, there are still episodes of The Nine and Six Degrees in the can that are just as, if not more, deserving of any open slot. Day Break may be destined for the internet, and a complete series DVD set.

So here we are at the start of Thanksgiving week, that time of year that we give thanks to everything we have in our lives. While most of us will, of course, be thankful for having our family and friends in our lives, we also can't forget about television!

1. Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip getting a full season. Come on, you read this site, so you know this would be number one for me. I think it's a really good show, no matter what some people say. And kudos to NBC for actually giving the show (and Friday Night Lights, too) a full season even though the ratings weren't spectacular. Imagine, a network that didn't cancel a show quickly, instead having a strategy to move it to a new night! Who knows if the show will get a second season, it at least gets a whole first season, and that makes me happy.